1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for displaying an image, which are suitable especially for a display using a plasma display panel (PDP).
As a television display device having a large screen, an AC type PDP of a surface discharge format is commercialized. The surface discharge format has first and second display electrodes each of which serves as an anode or a cathode in a display discharge for ensuring a luminance arranged in parallel on a front or a back substrate.
As an electrode matrix structure of the surface discharge type PDP, a “three-electrode structure” is widely known, in which an address electrode is arranged so as to cross the display electrode pair. For the display, one of the display electrodes (the second display electrode) is used as a scanning electrode for selecting a display line, and an address discharge is generated between the scanning electrode and the address electrode so as to control the wall charge in accordance with the content of the display for addressing. After the addressing, a sustaining voltage having an alternating polarity is applied to the display electrodes, so that a surface discharge is generated only in the cell having a predetermined wall charge along the substrate surface.
In a surface discharge type PDP, a partition (a barrier rib) for dividing a discharge space into columns is necessary. Concerning a partition structure, a stripe structure in which a partition having a banding shape in the plan view is arranged (including a structure in which a stripe pattern layer and a mesh pattern layer are overlaid) has an advantage over a mesh (waffle) structure in which each cell is separated from others. In the stripe structure, the discharge space of each column is continuous over the entire length of the screen, so that a discharge probability is increased by a priming effect, and that a fluorescent material layer can be arranged uniformly and easily, and that an air exhaustion process can be shortened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A three-electrode surface discharge type PDP that is disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 9-160525 is used for an interlaced display. In this PDP, display electrodes are arranged at a constant pitch so as to be connected with all columns that are defined by linear banding partitions, and the number of the display electrodes equals to the number N of the display line in the screen plus one. Among the (N+1) display electrodes, two neighboring display electrodes constitute an electrode pair for generating a surface discharge and define one display line (row) of the screen. Each of the display electrodes except for both ends of the arrangement works for two display lines (an odd display line and an even display line), while each of the end display electrodes works for one display line. Thus, the PDP, wherein all display electrode gaps are made discharge gaps and one display electrode is shared by two display lines for discharge, has an advantage in that the resolution (the number of display lines) is substantially doubled, and that there is no non-light emission area between the display lines so that each cell a large aperture ratio, compared with a PDP in which a pair of display electrodes is arranged for each display line.
In Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 9-50768, a three-electrode surface discharge type PDP having a modified stripe partition structure is proposed in which a meandering band-like partition is used for dividing the discharge space, so as to prevent discharge interference (cross talk) in the column direction. Each partition meanders so as to form a column space having alternating widened portions and narrowed portions in cooperation with the neighboring partition. The position of the widened portion in which a cell is formed is shifted from that of the neighboring column, so that the arrangement of three colors for a color display becomes Delta Tricolor Arrangement. In the conventional image display using this PDP, each display line is made of cells including a fixed cell selected for each column.
In the conventional image display using the delta arrangement PDP, the display line pitch equals to the cell arrangement pitch in the column direction, so there is a problem in that it is necessary to reduce the cell size in order to improve the resolution in the column direction.